


some-fin in the water

by agentmmayy



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fluff, Post-Season/Series 05 Finale, Retirement, Swimming, Tahiti (Agents of SHIELD), Vacation, wow that has its own tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-12
Updated: 2019-10-12
Packaged: 2020-12-09 12:35:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20994902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/agentmmayy/pseuds/agentmmayy
Summary: About a month into their retirement in Tahiti, Phil and Melinda go swimming with sharks.





	some-fin in the water

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Gort](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gort/gifts).

> first of all i'd like to wish a happy (belated) birthday to elle who requested philinda + anything with sharks so this fic was born. hope your Friday night is lit and you're still riding the high of your bday vacay elle <3

Sunlight filtered in through the gauzy white curtains, landing in slivers on the bed that winked with each push and pull of the island breeze. Melinda woke slowly, blinking awake and squinting at the light. The position of the sun indicated it was past her usual waking time, as well as how her limbs were heavy with sleep. Melinda couldn’t bring herself to care, though. She stretched, causing the chest pressed to her back and the arm around her waist to move. 

“Morning.” Phil pressed a kiss to her bare shoulder, stubble pleasantly pricking her skin. 

“Mm,” Melinda moaned, turning to face Phil and meet his lips in a soft, slow kiss. “Morning.”

He smiled, brushing his lips against the corner of her mouth when they pulled away. “You’re up late.”

“It’s retirement,” Melinda said. Another moan bubbled in her throat as Phil’s hands slid beneath the thin sheet and to her hips. She tilted her jaw when his lips found her neck. “I’m allowed to sleep in.”

“Never thought I’d hear you say that. Ready to go swim with some sharks?”

Melinda swung a leg over Phil’s hips and pushed him onto his back with a single movement. She sat astride him, eyes bright with more than just sleep. Melinda returned his grin before leaning down to kiss him. “In a little while.”

***

By the time they eventually rolled out of bed, showered, had breakfast, and made their way to the market, it was mid-morning. As usual, around this time, the ever so lively market was beginning to dwindle with activity as shops and restaurants closed for a few hours. Phil and Melinda just managed to catch the owner of the kayak rental store. 

“Thank you,” Phil said for about the fifth time, shaking his head when asked if he wanted a receipt or a locker. His French was a little rusty yet understandable. “Just the kayak.”

There was no need to rent a box to put their belongings in while they were out. They’d brought the exact amount of cash for renting the kayak, and nothing else except three bottles, two reusable metal ones full of water and one of reef-safe sunscreen, two snorkeling masks, and the waterproof camera Phil bought their first day on the island. He’d already used up one roll of film and had more stashed in the house. The camera hung around his neck to be used at a moment’s notice and made them stand out as tourists even more. Phil then began to ask the shop owner, who by now looked more irritated than polite now that they were cutting into his break time, about the water and sharks. 

Melinda tugged at his arm. “Come on.”

“Have a great day,” Phil bid the man, slipping his hand into Melinda’s as they walked past the shop and further into the market. 

Above them, palm trees swung in the breeze, fronds creating rustling sounds that blended in with the low chatter of a few locals lounging nearby. When they reached the beach, Melinda slipped her sandals off, digging her toes into the soft white sand. Her coverup was next, pulling away from her skin to reveal a light yellow bikini. She compensated her collection of floral and leaf-patterned sundresses with plain bikinis in a myriad of different colors though red was noticeably missing from the collection. Phil had the same reaction to each one of them.

His eyed widened, and his throat bobbed as he swallowed. Melinda barely suppressed her smirk and tossed her coverup to Phil, who blushed under the hot sun as he put it in the bag with their other belongings.

There was a line of kayaks laid out on the sand, placed just far enough away from the water so that they wouldn’t be dragged out. They picked a bright orange sit-on-top one just wide and long enough for two people and their belongings. 

Phil pushed the kayak out while Melinda grabbed the paddle before wading into the shallow water to join him. Though the water was nowhere near cold, the difference in temperature from the air around them sent goosebumps pimpling across her body. The water lapped at Melinda’s calves, going no further than her knees. She held the kayak as Phil sat down before carefully climbing in behind him. Since it was a sit-top kayak, there were no individual holes to sit in or a divide between them. Melinda’s calves pressed against Phil’s hips as she situated herself. Reaching, she grabbed the paddle, gripping it in her palms. 

“Ready?”

“Paddles up?” Phil asked. Melinda rolled her eyes.

With a push of the paddle against the sand, they set out. 

Though they had been on the island for a month already, Melinda would never be used to the sheer beauty of it. The sky was a bright, light blue with not a cloud in it. The water was calm around them, rippling out from the bottom of their kayak. Phil let go of Melinda’s ankle to dip a hand down into the water. His fingertips trailed in it, bobbing with each wave. 

Out here, it was even quieter than on their private beach. It wasn’t long before Phil began talking, but Melinda found she enjoyed the sound of his voice more than the silence. 

“There are more than three hundred and fifty species of sharks known worldwide, and nineteen of them are here in the islands. Three hundred and fifty! How man do you think we’ll see today?”

“Both sharks and rays are cartilaginous fish, which means their skeletons are made completely out of cartilage. How cool is that?”

“The first sharks lived more than four hundred million years ago. Two hundred million before dinosaurs!”

Melinda gave answering passive hums when Phil paused between breaths. His voice faded to background noise as she continued to paddle. They made sure to stay away from the more populated areas, wanting the same privacy that their cottage provided. Melinda kept the kayak in shallow water, moving through the crystal clear ocean. If she looked to her right, she could see the lush green rolling hills and dips of the island. If she looked to her left, she could see the vast horizon of the ocean before them. It stretched out well beyond where she could see, rolling deep blue and infinite. Out here sitting atop the water, Melinda felt even smaller than when staring at the ruined remains of earth from between the stars. The ocean was more unfamiliar to her than space but equally as unforgiving. 

Melinda hadn’t noticed Phil stopped talking. He twisted to look at her. “How are your shoulders holding up?”

“Fine.” Phil raised a dubious eyebrow at her answer. Melinda then admitted, “A little sore.” While Melinda didn’t let her tai chi routine go by the wayside, she didn’t work out as often. Her muscles were still toned and strong, but using a paddle pulled on them in a different way than simply fighting someone did. Tomorrow she would ache, but it didn’t seem to matter. 

“Maybe I can give you a massage later.”

The thought of Phil’s hands, slick with oil kneading her skin made Melinda’s mouth go dry. She gripped the paddle a little tighter to try and distract from the heat low in her belly. “I’d like that.”

Phil gave her a wink before continuing to recite her more shark facts to her. After about five more minutes of paddling, he paused, looking around. 

“Here looks good.”

Melinda lowered the paddle with a  _ thunk  _ across her legs, resting for a moment before turning and dropping the anchor down. It fell in the water with a  _ plop _ . That was the only sound that echoed around them. Unlike other beaches Melinda went to, no birds flew overhead or even cawed from the shore. Everything was still except the water gently lapping at the sides of the kayak. For a moment, it felt like they were suspended in time. Then the high-pitched whir and click of Phil taking a picture broke the solitude. 

Melinda surveyed the water around them. “I don’t see any sharks.”

“You have to be patient,” Phil said though he leaned over the edge of the kayak, searching the water beneath them. “All the blogs I read said it takes a minute or two for them to show up.”

“Put on some sunscreen. You’re already starting to pink.”

He laughed, bringing one arm across his chest to check his skin. “I think that’s from yesterday too.” 

Up until now, Phil had been wearing a shirt, a white one that complimented the tiny anchors on his blue shorts. He’d grown more comfortable with his scar from New York but became self-conscious of the new ones decorating his chest as well. The thin, white veins stood out against the tan Phil somehow managed to get over the past few weeks. They began at the white puckered line on his breastbone, traveling up his chest to his collarbones, down to his elbows, and even spreading across his ribs to his back. The ones there were fainter, having been gray when Phil was administered the serum. Still, the sight of them made a pit open in Melinda’s stomach. She’d almost lost him  _ again _ . 

Phil made a grunt of frustration, arm tucked over his shoulder to try and smear sunscreen on his back, which wasn’t working. He twisted to glance at Melinda. “Can you get my back?”

Wordlessly, Melinda held her hand out for the bottle, squirting a dollop into her palm once she had it. She smeared it onto Phil’s back that was rapidly freckling under the Tahiti sun, much like his cheeks. 

“You’re sure this is safe?”

She wasn’t as much afraid of sharks as she was of what they could do. Like all animals, they were unpredictable. 

He nodded. “Yeah. All the blogs and travel sites considered it a safe and enjoyable experience. Even the wait staff at the restaurant last night said so. Besides, I have you to protect me if things go south.” 

When Melinda finished with Phil’s back, she rubbed sunscreen on herself, starting at her arms. She’d turned a golden tan on their first day there, and it had only grown deeper with each day. But she still could burn and didn’t want to. 

The kayak rocked when Phil suddenly moved. “Mel!” he gasped. “A stingray!”

Sure enough, when Melinda looked down, a large stingray floated by, wings rippling in the water. A dark mass on the other side of the kayak caught her attention. She glanced down to see another stingray gliding through the water, passing under their kayak before continuing on. 

“They’re so big!” Phil exclaimed, quickly bringing up the camera around his neck to snap a picture. A third stingray appeared, this time swimming right below the pointed camera lens as if it knew it was there. Phil, elated, continued to snap away. 

Melinda grabbed his shoulder. “Phil.”

He stopped mid camera click, turning and following to where Melinda pointed. About ten feet away from them was a shark. It was around five feet long, a dark gray in the water with black-tipped fins and dorsal. Curious, it swam by them but wasn’t interested enough to come closer. 

“It’s so beautiful,” Phil said, voice hushed with awe. More sharks began to show up, each around the same size as the last. “I’m going in.”

Carefully, Phil shifted in the kayak, bringing one leg over the side first. Because he was a dork, he wore water shoes that quickly became heavy when dipped in the ocean. Melinda watched as he gave her an excited smile before sliding in. The area they were was waist-length deep, so Phil’s swim trunks ballooned up around his waist the moment he was deep enough. Melinda snickered while Phil sent her a playful glare as he patted his shorts down. Then he disappeared under the water only to come up a second later.

“How is it?”

Phil used a hand to wipe the water from his face, revealing a smile that warmed Melinda more than the hot sun. “Incredible,” he said, resting his arms on the side of the kayak after grabbing his goggles. “The water’s so nice. Are you getting in?”

She wanted to watch him swim for a while first. “I will.”

With a flick of water sent to her thigh, Phil pulled on his mask again, this time diving deeper. 

After a while, Melinda grew tired of sitting. She swung her legs over the side of the kayak before dropping down into the water. A gasp caught in her throat at the sudden shock of it against her sun-warmed skin. By now, the slight sting of the saltwater was familiar against her scars, especially her still-healing thigh. Melinda bent her knees, holding her breath as she dunked herself. 

She came up silently, wiping water from her eyes and slicking her hair back. Melinda swam over to the kayak, reaching in and pulling out her goggles. 

Beneath the surface, the water was slightly cloudy yet still incredibly clear. Sharks, stingrays, and fish leisurely swam about. Further out and near the sandbank, the sand was dotted with dark bits of rock and shells that glimmered in the sunlight. Melinda’s eyes drew to the ocean floor. Kicking her feet, she dove to the bottom. Fish scattered out of her way as she went. Here, the sand was softer than on the shore, beaten by the relentless tide. It fell through her fingers in fine lines, immediately drifting to rest on the floor once more. 

A shark swam by, eyeing Melinda the same way she eyed it- with a mix of trepidation and respective curiosity. A long silvery fish followed closely under the shark, and in the distance, a few more shone. A larger shadow came up next to her, but it was just Phil. He offered his hand to Melinda, who took it without a second thought. 

They swam to the surface and got some air before diving back down. Melinda led them to the deeper shallows so their feet wouldn’t hit bottom when they idled. More sea creatures swam by them, ranging from large fish to a sea turtle that Phil eagerly tugged on her hand to point at. They dove to the bottom, bringing up handfuls of sand to search for shells. They had more than enough at the house, but it was still fun to look. Phil startled when a flounder swam up from the sand he disturbed, and Melinda tried not to inhale water by laughing. Ahead circled a colony of sharks and rays, which Phil led Melinda toward. Used to human presence, the stingrays eagerly swam up and between them, rubbery fins brushing Melinda and Phil’s thighs. The sharks kept their distance. One bravely inched close to Phil but darted away before he could get a good picture. 

Though Phil was recovering, he still needed to rest. Melinda tugged at his hand, signaling it was time to go back to the kayak. 

They broke the surface at the same time, both gasping for air. Phil tugged his mask off, the strap sending his hair into a frenzy of spikes that made a laugh slip from Melinda’s lips. She pulled her own mask off, but the strap stuck to her thick hair. Laughing, Phil moved to tug it off but instead cupped Melinda’s face in his hands before bringing his mouth to hers. Melinda’s arms automatically rose to his chest, the fine salt and pepper hair there tickling her skin. She opened her mouth under Phil’s, sinking into him. Salt burst sharply on their tongues from the seawater that dripped down their faces. Melinda tilted her chin, sucking more salt from his bottom lip. Phil’s lips were slightly chapped from the continual sun exposure, no matter how many times he applied chapstick. Then again, it was almost always kissed off by the end of the day. 

A gasp rose from Melinda’s open mouth when Phil’s tongue stroked hers. His hands trailed from her face to her hips, fingers dipping just barely beneath the waistband of her bikini bottoms. Then Phil pulled back but didn’t move far. 

The hands he had on Melinda’s hips tightened before he lifted her up, drawing her to him. She didn’t weigh much, to begin with, but in the water, she was even lighter, her weight next to nothing. Melinda wrapped her legs around Phil’s waist, ankles crossing at the small of his back. They’d had sex against the wall like this a few times after breathing became easier for him, and Melinda wasn’t so terrified that he’d drop any second. She adored being held by him, especially close like this. 

“Watch out for stingrays.” 

He huffed, sliding his hands down the backs of her thighs to hold her closer. “You really know how to make things romantic, don’t you?” 

“You getting stung wouldn’t be romantic at all.”

“You have a point.”

Melinda brought her hands from Phil’s shoulders to his neck, sending droplets cascading down his chest. Her fingertips brushed against the short hair at the nape of his neck, silky from the saltwater. This time their kisses were slower and closed-mouth with only a gentle press and slide of lips. Though the emptiness of the spot they were in offered enough privacy, the island was still in close proximity. Moreover, Melinda could wait until they got home where they didn’t have an audience. 

Leaning back, Melinda rested her cheek on Phil’s shoulder, eyes closing as she felt his lips on her temple. His skin was sun-warm, a complete one-eighty from how cool it had been before they arrived in Tahiti, growing colder with each day as the black lines continued to crawl along his body. Though their chests pressed together, water managed to get between them, dipping up and down their skin with each bob of the tide. Being held, holding Phil, and being rocked by the waves was all too relaxing. Melinda rubbed her cheek on Phil’s shoulder with a content sigh. She could fall asleep like this and felt herself drifting off. 

But Phil suddenly jumped, jolting her out of dozing and her eyes open. Before Melinda could ask why, she felt something rubbery brush her heel as a stingray went by, circling around them briefly before swimming off. 

Phil chuckled. “Curious little guy.”

“Hopefully, none of the sharks get that friendly,” Melinda said. “I doubt it would feel as nice.” She felt his fingers trail along her thigh. “You’re starting to prune.”

“Come on,” he pleaded. “One more dive.”

When she nodded, Melinda expected Phil to let go of her, but instead, he held on tighter and took her under the water with him. 

They had to walk the kayak over to more shallow water to get in lest it tip over. A hiss left Melinda’s lips when she sat down, tender thighs burning against the hot plastic. Phil tossed her coverup over to her, which she placed beneath her before grabbing the paddle. 

“You want me to take over?”

Melinda shook her head. While Phil was capable of certain physical activity now, she didn’t want to overexert him. Swimming for hours was already enough. “I expect that massage.”

Phil laughed. “You got it.” 

Melinda brought the paddle down in the water, making sure there were no sea creatures beneath it first. Paddling was easier now though her palms stung. Phil’s hands caressing her calves that bumped against his thighs was a welcome distraction as well as water that occasionally sloshed over the sides of the kayak from the stronger current. They both watched as stingrays and sharks swam by as if bidding them goodbye for the day. Part of Melinda didn’t want to leave, just wanted to float above the ocean floor for hours, but they could come back whenever.

It was mid-afternoon now, the sun hung high in the sky. The shops were reopened, and they could grab a quick lunch if they wanted to or drive back to the house to eat. Making a decision on that didn’t seem important at the time. They would decide when they got back to shore. 

“So,” Phil began, thumb brushing over the sensitive dip of Melinda’s ankle bone. “What did you think?”

“It was nice.”

“If we come back in July, we can dive with hammerheads.”

“Who said anything about leaving?” she asked. 

The grin Phil gave her in return, outshone the sun. 

**Author's Note:**

> thanks for reading and once again a very happy (belated) birthday to elle! <3


End file.
